


Rags and Riches

by Phandabbydosey



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Badass!Phil, Character Development, Fluff, Homelessness, M/M, Spoilt!Phil, Vandalism, homeless!dan, rich/poor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-18 05:11:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9369503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phandabbydosey/pseuds/Phandabbydosey
Summary: Spoilt brat Philip Lester is used to having all his problems solved for him, even his problems with the law. Fed up with his attitude and behaviour, Phil’s parents refuse to buy him out of trouble and Phil soon finds himself sentenced to community service, where he comes across a homeless boy with deep brown eyes who might be able to change the way Phil sees the world entirely.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was chosen by amazingphantasia for my 1k followers fic giveaway on tumblr.
> 
> My tumblr is phandabbydosey if you would rather read this over there :D
> 
> Beta-ed by the lovely gatsbys-old-sport over on tumblr

“Philip Lester, you are sentenced to 100 hours of community service. Case closed.”

The sound of the gavel striking wood echoed around the courtroom, Phil internalising his groan of annoyance. It hadn’t even been his idea, but his stupid friends had stupidly decided it would be fun to throw a big stupid rock through the stupid office of the stupid deputy head. They were only meant to be doing a bit of graffiti, but no, they had to go for full on smashing windows.

Phil wasn’t the most graceful person even when he was completely in control of his body, so a smooth getaway was not expected when he had almost a whole bottle of vodka in his bloodstream. In the few moments of stumbling and fumbling with his backpack as the shrill alarm assaulted his ears,  Phil hadn’t noticed his wallet fall out onto the gravel and left it behind as he drunkenly fled.

Of course, it didn’t take a genius to put together the events of the ‘attack’ and no one was surprised to find that the spoilt wild child of business heavyweights Helen and Paul Lester was involved. It wasn’t the first time Phil had been linked to something like this, so the school had decided to press charges in the hopes of finally getting through to him.

As he followed his parents out of the courthouse, Phil didn’t feel anything but disdain, scowling at the strangers walking past as he thought not of repenting and paying back for his crime, but of the party he’d be missing that night as a result of the inevitable grounding from his parents.

———————————–

“No! No you can’t make me go there, Dad,” Phil whined loudly as he read the sign they drove past, turning into the carpark of a building that had certainly seen better days. About sixty years ago, maybe. “It’ll be full of filthy tramps!”

“Philip! Don’t use that word,” Phil’s father snapped, his voice sharp and authoritative and leaving no room for arguments.

“Why not? It’s what they are, dirty tramps who sleep on the streets and are probably covered in disease. I’m going to end up catching something,” Phil huffed, crossing his arms and looking resolutely out the window, away from the homeless shelter, refusing to get out, “Why can’t I just do the community service somewhere else. You’ve already taken away my consoles and laptop _and_ grounded me, giving me fleas is just going too far.”

“No Phil, you’re doing your service here and that’s final,” Phil’s father turned the engine off and sat back in his seat, showing he wouldn’t leave until Phil did as he was told, “You can’t just rely on your mother and I’s money to get you out of trouble all the time, we’ve done it too many times already. And you’re getting to be a real spoilt brat, me and your mother both agree that seeing the way these people live might make you actually appreciate what you have. No arguments.”

Phil groaned loudly and looked at his father once more, sliding out of the car when he got only a steely gaze in response.

“Oh and Phil,” Phil turned when his dad spoke again, tentative hope blooming in Phil’s chest. Maybe his parents were just planning on scaring him. That flicker was quickly extinguished, “I’ve spoken to the lady who runs the shelter and she’s going to call me if you’re disrespectful in any way. If I hear anything, you’ll be grounded for another two months.”

“What?! Dad that’s so unfair!” Phil’s complaints fell on deaf ears because the car had already pulled out of the car park and driven away.

A scowl etched deeply into his pale face, Phil shoved his hands deep into his pockets and slumped into the dilapidated building.

—————————

Half an hour later, Phil found himself in a faded blue t-shirt that gave off a distinct odour of cheap, antibacterial washing detergent, standing beside a large vat of mashed potato. His scowl was still firmly in place, getting impossible deeper when he saw the big double doors open to let in the queue of homeless people.

Phil didn’t even try to be polite as he all but dropped spoonfuls of potato onto the plates held in dirty hands, contempt practically dripping off his face as he glared at anyone who said thank you.

He lazily continued with his job as people shuffled past, not paying too much attention to the scruffy faces, letting them all blur into a mass of unshaven beards and gaunt cheeks. A couple people stood out - a mother with a toddler in her arms and both of them dressed in rags; a man whose face was almost skeletal with hands that shook as he held his plate out to Phil; and a young boy, about Phil’s age, with big brown eyes set into his dirty face and messy curls sprawled over his head - but it was generally unremarkable.

Eventually the queue came to an end and Phil was told to take the leftover potato around and offer second helpings to anyone particularly young, old, frail or with children. Basically, anyone who would benefit from extra sustenance.

Not really knowing who to go to, Phil just wandered around the tables and gave food to anyone who asked. He came to the boy from earlier, the one with the dark eyes and curly hair, and was asked for an extra helping, biting his lip as he looked down into the pan.

“Sorry, there’s none left,” he mumbled, going to walk away but being stopped by a hand reaching out to grab his shirt. It was tanned but also grimy, making Phil push it off with a grimace, “I said there was none left, you should’ve been faster.”

“But, I need seconds because I’ve been sick,” the boy said quietly, looking a little offended by Phil’s expression but not commenting on it, “They always save me seconds.”

“Well, not today,” Phil said sharply, turning and walking back to the kitchen, ignoring the boy calling from behind him.

—————————-

Phil couldn’t wait to go home. He was watching the clock and silently begging it to reach seven o’clock sooner. He couldn’t believe his dad was making him spend five consecutive hours in this hell hole and, to top it all off, he was called to help in the little infirmary five minutes before he was going to leave. Knowing his dad would probably be told if he refused, Phil trudged up the stairs to the right room and knocked on the door.

A petite woman in shirt identical to Phil’s opened the door, her blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail. Strands were coming loose around her ears which, coupled with the lights shadows under her eyes, gave her a generally frazzled appearance. “Thank god, I’ve been stuck in here all day,” she said, pulling a slightly puzzled Phil into the tiny first aid room, “You’ve just got to hold down the fort until half seven, then the district nurse will arrive to take over and do her checks”

“Uh, what do I actually do?” Phil asked dumbly, making the girl let out a heavy sigh.

“Chances are you aren’t going to see anyone, but just check over anyone who comes up,” she recited the instructions monotonously, clearly having given them many times, “People with colds or flu can have a dose of flu medicine, a couple bottles of water, and a blanket. People who’re malnourished - they’ll look pale, probably mention feeling faint or dizzy, be generally sluggish with their movements - can have a handful of energy bars and a bag of peanuts and give them one of the green slips so they can get some more for the next week. Anyone with a green slip gets the same and you use the stamp to check off one of the boxes; there’s a list of the people who currently have slips so check that before you give out a new one to make sure someone’s not trying to get an extra portion. There’s a couple people who might come to have dressings changed and all the details are in that book over there so just look at that to see what checks need doing. Anyone asking for medication, just tell them to come back after half past and the nurse will sort it. Got all that? Anything you don’t know how to handle, just tell them to wait for the nurse.”

A slightly blank expression on his face, Phil nodded and watched the woman stride out of the room, muttering to herself about finally getting a break. Not sure what to do with himself, Phil explored the shoebox-like room. There was a slightly tattered looking examination bed, a single chair and a small row of cupboards containing the various supplies a first aid room would need and lot’s of high energy, emergency foods; the kind hikers would take on an expedition.

He got bored pretty quickly and pulled out one of the energy bars, tearing the packages and slouching down into the chair.

“You know, those are supposed to be for people who actually need the extra nutrients,” Phil almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the slightly posh, slightly pissed off voice from the doorway. He jumped to his feet to see the boy from earlier, the one who’d asked for seconds, looking at him disapprovingly with those incredibly dark eyes.

“Well, I-uh-I haven’t had anything to eat since I got here,” Phil muttered and lowered his head a little, not liking the way the boy’s gaze made guilt pool in his stomach. He huffed and held the half eaten bar out to the skinny boy, “Here, you have it. Did you need anything else?”

The boy looked like he was going to refuse for a moment, but the obvious hunger won out and he reluctantly took the bar, taking a large bite before sitting himself down on the examination bed. He slowly rolled up the sleeve of his thick jacket and the multiple layers underneath to reveal a slightly off white bandage wrapped around his tanned forearm. “I need my dressing changed,” he explained bluntly, “The person up here checks the wound over because it was infected but I’m not on antibiotics anymore. And I have a slip to get extra food, so I need that.”

“Uh, right right,” Phil nodded, biting his lip for a moment as he tried to remember what the woman had told him. There was a book, a book with names and what needed to be done, “What’s your name?”

“Dan. Dan Howell.”

Phil nodded again and quickly flicked through the large book, trying to find the information he needed. It took a few minutes - there were a lot of names and details in the book - but eventually he found it. ‘Dan Howell - Treated with antibiotics for infection on the forearm - Check wound for swelling, inflammation or signs of infection and redress’. Phil also found Dan’s name on the list of people who received the extra food rations along with a note about multiple instances of severe malnutrition.

“Are you going to actually do something or will you just sit there reading all day,” Dan huffed, snapping Phil out of focus and reminding him he actually was meant to be doing something.

“Yeah yeah,” Phil walked back over to the bed and took Dan’s arm, carefully unwrapping the bandage to reveal a long, jagged gash. It had healed over a little, the surface looking more scab-like than the raw flesh of a open wound, but it was still clearly very sore and vulnerable. Luckily, it seemed clean and as healthy as it could be so Phil grabbed a new set of bandages from the cupboard and thought back to his year 9 first aid course as he started to wrap Dan’s arm. “How did you do this anyway?” Phil asked, wanting to fill the silence that had filled the small room. Dan’s unwavering stare was also pretty unnerving, “It’s pretty nasty looking.”

“Some guys attacked me, they had a knife,” Dan shrugged nonchalantly, as if being slashed by a knife was an everyday occurrence, “It wasn’t this big but then I caught it climbing over a fence. Hurt like a bitch and got a load of dirt in it, luckily the people here cleaned it all up and gave me medicine for the infection.”

“Why did people attack you?”

“Because I’m a tramp,” Dan laughed humorlessly, his gaze still fixed solely on Phil, “They know they won’t get anything useful but apparently it’s fun to steal everything homeless people have. Not too fond of you fighting back though. Usually they just throw a few kicks or punches but you get the odd few who go the whole hog and pull out a switchblade.”

“That’s awful,” Phil muttered under his breath, swallowing thickly as he thought back to all the times he’d laughed at a homeless person. He really didn’t know why he would laugh, seeing the drawn faces and hopeless eyes of the people in the shelter was the complete opposite of funny but, in the moment and influenced by his friends, Phil would throw out insults Of course, he knew they had it tough, but thinking about people going out of their way to make it. worse made Phil feel a little bit sick.

Dan’s dark eyes were empty and hard as he stared at Phil, pools of frozen mud with pure misery showing through the cracks, “That’s life.”

———————————–

Within two weeks, Phil stopped seeing his community service as a chore. He started to look forward to pulling on the musty blue t-shirt and serving out bland food before doing his stint in the medical room. He found that it wasn’t such a miserable place when he smiled and gave out a friendly aura; exchanging a couple words after he was thanked for the food and having conversations as he changed dressings made things better for everyone involved. Smiles and laughter left the slightly damp, dilapidated building feeling much less drab and depressing.

Phil found himself laughing even more when he was around Dan. The boy was surprising witty and had a sharp sense of humor, he had the same music taste as Phil and had admitted to being a huge video game nerd before he’d become homeless. He was only one year younger than Phil too and the two boys had been getting along like a house on fire. Phil would even bring a bag of Maltesers with him every time he came to the shelter, slipping them in with Dan’s extra rations because he knew they were the boy’s favourite sweets. He loved seeing the bright smile on Dan’s face whenever he thanked Phil for the little red bag of chocolate.

In his third week, after he’d gotten his t-shirt on, headed into the cafeteria and greeted the other volunteers, he went about his usual jobs and carried the big pots of food through to the serving window ready for service. It was curry and rice that day, a dish that was always popular because the spices made a nice change from the usual, boring food served at the shelter.

Phil chatted happily as he spooned rice out onto the plates of the homeless people, the other volunteers having warmed up to him greatly since he’d let go of his spoilt teenager attitude.

However, he stopped speaking when the end of the queue came into view through the double doors. “Have you seen Dan today?” Phil asked Victoria, a girl in her early twenties who nearly always served alongside Phil, “He’s not gone past yet and he’s not in the queue.”

The shelter was mostly filled with regulars; they weren’t in a particularly large city so the homeless population was pretty constant, meaning the workers knew most of their patrons well. It was sort of an unspoken rule to look out for the vulnerable ones and Phil had learned pretty quickly that it wasn’t unusual to bring extra food or other treats in. One of the boys even brought a homemade cake in every week.

“No, I haven’t actually,” Victoria said, her concerned frown matching Phil’s, “He usually comes in for breakfast but I didn’t see him then either. I’ll ask around once we’re done here, see if anyone knows anything.”

Phil nodded and finished up in silence, smiling politely but worrying too much about Dan to form words. He couldn’t stop his mind from coming up with all sorts of horrible explanations for Dan’s sudden disappearance. Had he been attacked again? Had he been hit by a car? Was he currently dying in an alleyway all alone in the cold? What would happen if he died? He didn’t have any ID and no family that Phil was aware of; the only people who cared about him were at the shelter and the chances of a hospital going to the effort of calling them were slim. Dan would be left nameless and alone, given a council funded funeral with no one there to mourn him, no one to give the sweet boy a proper goodbye. The thought of that alone made Phil feel nauseous.

After giving out the leftover rice, Phil scanned the room once more in the hopes of seeing the familiar mop of curly brown hair, sighing in disappointment before walking over to Victoria. “D’you find anything out?”

“Yeah,” Victoria’s voice was sad and she ran a hand through her long hair, seemingly agitated, “Kieron said he was with him last night and that Dan went off to try and steal some food from somewhere. Apparently he never came back, Kieron thinks he got himself arrested.”

“Oh jesus,” Phil groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was relieved that Dan likely wasn’t hurt, but having him stuck in custody was far far from ideal, “I’m going to go over to the police station, see if I can bail him out or get the charges dropped or something. Cover for me?”

It was probably against the rules, but Victoria nodded. Phil wasn’t the only one with a soft spot for Dan.

Phil quickly pulled a jacket over his t-shirt, grabbed his wallet then headed out into the cold air, shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he started towards the city’s police station. It was only a short walk and, surprisingly, it didn’t take long for Phil to sort things out with man behind reception. He’d paid for Dan’s bail and managed to get the charges dropped, agreeing to pay compensation to the shop Dan had stolen from. Apparently the owner didn’t really want to press charges anyway.

Phil followed the man down to the back corridor and watched as he unlocked a cell, gesturing for Phil to go ahead and fetch Dan out.

Dan looked very small sat on the bed, his hair even messier than usual and old tear tracks staining his face. He looked up when he heard the door open and, upon seeing Phil, was up in a flash and threw his arms around Phil’s neck. He started blubbering about how he ‘didn’t mean to’ and was ‘so so sorry for being stupid’, but Phil just shushed him and played with his hair until he finally settled down.

“C’mon, lets go. I’ll buy us a McDonalds or something,” Phil murmured, giving Dan one more squeeze before pulling back and subconsciously slipping his hand into Dan’s. Dan nodded tearfully and let Phil lead him out of the police station.

Knowing Dan would feel self conscious inside the restaurant, Phil got him to wait outside while he went in and collected a meal for them both - making sure Dan’s was a large. Once they’d regrouped outside, the pair headed down to a nearby park to eat. It was still early enough in the evening for the sun to offer some warmth, but they both pulled their jackets a little tighter around themselves before tucking into the greasy food.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, Phil letting Dan savour the hearty meal before starting up a conversation. “You got a lot of people worrying back at the shelter,” Phil said, smiling softly around  a mouthful of chips, “Victoria was running around the cafeteria trying to find some information on where you’d vanished too.”

“Sorry about that,” Dan murmured, though his mouth was twitching up at the corners slightly. Since Phil had arrived, he’d felt like someone actually cared about him, he hadn’t had that feeling for years, “I wasn’t even taking anything big, just a couple tins of beans and soup. The owner went nuts though.” Dan let out a hollow laugh before biting into the Big Mac, a little sauce dripping down onto his chin.

Phil took a deep breath before speaking again, not knowing how Dan would react to his offer, “You know, if you ever need some extra food you can always ask me. I’ll be more than happy to go and buy it for you.”

Dan tried to keep his reaction hidden but Phil noticed the slight tension that became present in the thin boy’s shoulders. “No-No it’s fine. Normally thing’s are alright I just…” Dan sighed and lowered the burger, keeping his gaze downcast, “I wanted to do something for myself for once, even if it was stealing. I’ve relied on the shelter for food for ages and don’t get me wrong, I’m so so grateful for what they’ve done for me, I just want to be independent for once.”

Phil didn’t really know how to respond to that, so he just nodded and let silence fall once again.

—————————————

Phil found himself mulling over Dan’s words a lot in the following weeks. He started analysing the shelter and how everyone just looked so _hopeless_ , their shoulders perpetually slumped and their eyes empty, yet he didn’t quite know why. It took him a while but one day, when he was sitting alone up in the medical room after saying goodbye to Dan, it hit him.

The shelter helped the homeless survive, gave them food and medicine and blankets, but that was all it did; kept them alive just so they could spend another barely scraping by. Of course, it was through no fault of the shelter, they were doing the best they could on their limited funds and they really did work wonders, but Phil now realised that these people needed more.

He wanted to help so badly, but he didn’t know what he could do.

So, he did what he could, bringing in extra food and supplies and making donations as often as he could. His parents had been curious as to where his pocket money was going when he didn’t appear to be buying anything new for himself and Phil told them the truth, getting - slightly surprised - smiles and hugs in response. They told him they’d increase his allowance, telling him to use the extra on himself. He couldn’t bring himself to though, so he just gave the shelter more money each week.

The money made a difference, everyone now got second helpings and the medical room was stocked with higher quality equipment, but it still wasn’t enough to get rid of the depressing atmosphere that hung in the building. The people may be smiling more and their faces may have been starting to fill out, but they were still stuck in the rut of just clinging on until the next day.

Phil actually got the idea in the shower and he was so inspired that he almost jumped straight out to start working on it. Luckily for his modesty, he calmed himself down and let his mind explore the idea as he washed away the soap suds before he climbed out, dressed himself in a pair of pyjama trousers then got to work.

Later that night, his mother found him asleep at his desk, his laptop opened on a property buying website.

———————————-

Phil had been surprised at how little convincing it took to get his parents on board with the idea. He guessed they were just glad he was choosing to spend his time on this rather than going out and getting drunk but he was ecstatic nonetheless. With his parents fortune behind him, his plan moved on smoothly and before he knew it, he was ready to announce it.

Phil hadn’t even noticed that this day would be his last required hour of community service, he wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon so he’d quickly lost track.

Phil and his parents had both spoken with the lady who ran the shelter and she absolutely adored their idea, giving them her blessing to carry it out and helping them as much as he could.

And, finally, it was all done and ready and Phil’s smile was large as he pulled on the familiar t-shirt. “Someone looks cheery today,” Victoria commented as she joined Phil at the service counter, a curious look on her face

“Yep, I’ve some…good news,” Phil smirked, wanting to keep the plan a surprise for as many people as possible, “I’m going to share it after dinner.” Victoria still looked a little confused but shrugged it off, focusing on dishing out food to the queue of people who’d started coming through the door.

Once the second round of helpings had been given out and all the plates were collected, Phil climbed up onto one the slightly rickety tables and called for everyone’s attention.

“I-I have some big news to share with you all,” he said, trying to keep his voice clear as he could when all the eyes in the room were on him. He found his own eyes being drawn down to Dan, the other boy looking at him interestedly, “I’ve been working on something for a while and I’m finally ready to share it. I was a dick when I first arrived here, I’ll be the first person to admit that, but I’ve learnt a lot while I’ve been here and…well I want to do something to make a difference. So, me and my parents have bought a building and we’re going to move the shelter there. It’s all new and clean and there’s enough space for everyone to have a bed each night and we’ll make sure the food is as good as we can get it. And my parents are going to fund the whole thing, so we’ll have enough money to help you all get into college courses or into work. We’ll even help you out when you’ve got enough money to get your own flat, give you any extra support you need to get yourself going. We’re going to try and get you off the streets and, if that’s not possible, we’ll make sure you’re always warm and fed and as happy as possible. So…the building is all ready and it’s not too far from here. We can go there now.”

Phil scanned the crowd of people staring at him, trying to gauge their reaction. They all looked stunned, trying to process the news that maybe things weren’t completely hopeless. Then, all of a sudden, Dan started to clap. Soon enough, the whole cafeteria was filled with applause, a couple people even hooting and cheering, causing a light blush to rise on Phil’s cheeks. He jumped down from the table and was immediately swamped with hugs and thanks, everyone wanting to express their gratitude.

After about half an hour of listening to people thank him and answering questions, the lady who ran the shelter gathered everyone together and they set off to the new building. Phil found himself walking towards the back of the crowd, Dan falling into step beside him while everyone ahead buzzed excitedly. “This is really an amazing thing, you’re going to help a lot of people,” he said softly, hands buried deeply into the pockets of his tatty black coat. Phil could tell he wanted to say more, so just nodded and waited for him for speak again. They were silent for a couple of minutes before Dan finally spoke up, his voice cautious but hopeful, “Do you really think you could help me get onto a college course or something? I don’t have any GCSE’s or anything like that.”

“Yeah, I’ve actually done a lot of research into this,” Phil chuckled gently, “We’ve been in contact with charities for this sort of thing who can help us get you back into education and there’s loads of online courses if you don’t want to actually go to college. We’ve talked to a bunch of companies and they’re giving us exclusive first access to apprenticeships too, so that’s an option. Sometimes having business people for parents can be really, really helpful. So yeah, we’ll be able to find you something you enjoy, hopefully get you up onto your own two feet. It was actually you who gave me the idea to do this.”

“Me?” Dan’s eyebrows shot up and his voice rose a little.

“Yeah, that day you got arrested and we were eating in the park, you said how you wanted to be independent for once. It got me thinking about how the shelter worked and what sort of help you all really needed. And I just…well, since I’ve been helping out at the shelter and got to know you properly, I just kept comparing our lives and thinking about how you don’t deserve this. You deserve a proper future and you weren’t going to get that unless someone did something. So yeah, without you none of this would’ve happened.”

Dan was quiet for a few moments before, seemingly out of nowhere, he’d pulled Phil to a stop and pressed their lips together. It was only a short kiss, but Phil couldn’t help himself from wishing it was longer, deeper. Pulling back, Dan’s dark eyes stared deeply into Phil’s as he whispered, “Thank you.”

Phil had been too distracted to really inspect his feelings for Dan further than the quickly blossomed friendship, but, in that moment, he recognised that the warmth he felt in his chest whenever he saw the other boy was more than companionship. He didn’t know if he’d call it love, but he certainly wouldn’t mind being able to hold Dan and call him his own. He briefly thought back to who he’d been not too long ago, the spoilt brat who wouldn’t so much as look at a homeless person without pulling a face, but didn’t entertain the thought for very long.

Seeing the optimism in Dan’s eyes, the undiluted happiness at the thought of actually having a future, Phil leant forward and kissed him again, not caring that the group was leaving them behind. He had a sneaking suspicion that he’d heard Victoria ushering them on but didn’t dwell on it because he was currently kissing one of the funniest, sweetest and most beautiful boys he’d ever met and he didn’t really care about anything else.

 


End file.
